Storage soars: Self storage a growth business for Canada [Article]

Sue_C

David Allan likes to say self storage is a fascinating industry. It’s a statement he often punctuates with a laugh. “But seriously, it is an interesting business,” he adds.

Allan should know. He is the business development manager for one of Canada’s largest self storage companies, Apple Self-Storage.
Roughly the fifth-largest in the country, the company is family-run and like many of the other big players in the multi-billion-dollar industry, it is in growth mode. “One of the things that makes us a little bit different is we’re probably the most active in development, which means we build new facilities or convert existing spaces into self storage centres,” he says.

The company just expanded its footprint in Canada’s largest market, Ontario. It opened two new facilities in Mississauga — totaling about 200,000 square feet — along with another 67,000-square-foot location in Kitchener.

“A lot of the other companies buy a lot of existing facilities,” he says...[Keep Reading]

kromoleon

Apple Self-Storage also does a great job of collecting GOOD data and using it to make very strategic marketing decisions.